In the past, logs to be used by the pulp industry were normally cut to lengths in the woods by workmen performing the logging operation. The method of operation of handling logs required a great amount of manual labor to mark the logs to length and then cut the same. After the logs were cut to the predetermined lengths, they were then loaded by hand on the support vehicle, normally a specially designed truck for use in delivering the logs to a collection point, whereby the logs were then placed on a railroad boxcar for transport to the pulp industry. All of the above described steps normally used in the handling of logs for use in the pulp industry created an excessive amount of manual labor. Since manual labor is not now readily available and the cost of manual labor has increased tremendously, other means and methods of handling logs for use in the pulp industry have become necessary.
In developing the machinery for use in the automatic or more advanced log handling system, it has become more practical to merely cut a tree in the woods, remove the limbs and top therefrom, and transport the complete length of the tree to an automatic log cutting system.
There have been several attempts to provide austomatic log handling systems which will reduce the amount of the manual labor required. However, most of the prior attempts to produce automatic log handling machines have been extremely complex in nature, expensive to manufacture and unreliable in operation.
In the processing of logs which have been cut in the forest and transported to a log handling system, it is desirous to utilize certain sizes or diameters of logs for use in one type of industry such as the pulp industry, and to utilize a larger log having a greater diameter for use in a saw mill industry in the manufacture of lumber. It is always possible to use manual labor to remove the selected logs for use in one industry from the logs that were to be used in another industry. However, again the use of manual labor has become impractical for performing these operations. There have been some attempts made to provide log selecting means whereby a single operator with automatic controls could select and move certain predetermined sized logs to one location for accumulation and processing as required and to remove a second size to a second location for processing as required. However, most of the prior art machinery which was utilized in attempting to segregate predetermined sized logs were impractical to manufacture and to operate.
In advancing a log past a series of cutting members to cut a log into a plurality of predetermined lengths, the problem of moving the log past the cutters to prevent a binding of the log with a cutter mechanism is difficult and will sometimes cause a jamming of the logs with the cutters, thus stopping the operation thereof.
In utilizing automatic cutting means for cutting logs into lengths, the handling of sawdust created thereby often becomes a problem and must be considered in the design of automatic log handling machinery.